


Evan Tries to Make a Sound

by FallingInAForest



Category: Dear Evan Hansen
Genre: Connor Murphy is Without Doubt a Pizza Man, Connor is there, I don't know where this is going to go, Whats gonna happen? Who knows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-10-25 11:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10763505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingInAForest/pseuds/FallingInAForest
Summary: Evan tries to become a friend rather than just a family friend, and finds that there is more to the angry school bully than anger.(For Connor’s Point of View, Read "Connor Isn't Falling Anytime Soon (Hopefully)")





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first shot at anything DEH related, I'm not quite sure what will happen yet, so please bear with me.

CH 1:

Evan Tries to Make a Sound

"Get away from me, Hansen." Connor says as he pushes a boy in a blue shirt down. Not caring that he is leaving the boy behind, he angrily walks away, not looking back to make sure he is okay.

"B-but why?" Evan, the previously mentioned boy, asks, beginning to stand back up again. And that gets Connor’s attention. Usually people just stay down until he leaves, to make sure he doesn’t come back to push them again. And they definitely don’t ask why he is doing what he is doing.

"Why what?" Connor mocks in a snarky tone, looking back at Evan.

"W-why do you hate me?" Evan asks, looking down instead of at Connor, playing with the zipper on his jacket in hopes that he will manage to get a few words out.

"I hate everyone, Hansen." The Murphy boy replies with a laugh. Just then, the bell begins to ring, and any possible forming crowd is dispersed. ¨It’s nothing personal.¨

"I-isn't that lonely?" Evan asks, his voice getting quieter as his questions become more daring. But at least he was getting the words out, which was honestly an improvement, but not quite an accomplishment. 

"Lonely?" Connor repeats, and for just a small, minuscule moment Evan swears he hears sadness in the boys voice. But that doesn't last long, because the Murphy boy begins to let out a laugh. "Of course it is. But it's none of your fucking business, Hansen. Every highschooler is lonely." 

It takes Evan a few moments before he replies, because he begins to worry about the bell, and begins to think about how his teacher will count him tardy, or even absent, forcing the school to without doubt call his mom, who will begin to worry and take off work to see if he's okay or to yell at him, and he surely can't handle either of those options.

When Evan finally convinced himself that being late to some silly class shouldn’t be his top worry, he simply suggests, "But it doesn't have to be..." In his quietest voice yet. In his heart, Evan knows that that sentence should not be said while staring at the ground, so he dares to look up.

What he sees when he looks up is someone with sadness. And anger. Lots of anger. Connor’s delayed response causes Evan to think he didn’t hear him at first, but eventually Connor shakes his head, and in a whisper-like tone argues, "It's not that simple." 

Immediately after he says that though, the Murphy boy regrets his words, resorting back to shouting at Evan. "Never mind, you are probably just another one of those people trying to prove that I'm a psycho! Well fuck off, I think everybody already knows, find a new hobby!" 

With that Connor storms off into the distance, to who knows where, as Evan tries to say, "N-no I-it's not like that—S-sorry I'm really s-sorry." Connor hears this though, and almost turns back around, but he knows that some guy in a striped shirt won't help him. To Connor, nobody can help. 

Evan stands, still frozen in the same spot by the time Connor is fully out of sight, replaying the conversation in his head over and over again, completely caught off guard by Connor’s mood change. What did he do wrong? Or more accurately, did he do anything right? Why did Connor's mood change so quickly? Eventually, Evan realizes that he's late for class, and not just by a little. Class must be halfway over by this point. So Evan walks as fast as he can to reach the door to his classroom, but when he does and his good hand reaches the doorknob, he can't find it in himself to turn it and open the door. Too many things could go wrong and not enough could go right, and after the scene with Connor, Evan doubted he could handle that.

———

"Mom?" Evan says as Heidi picks up the phone. "I-I'm r-really sorry."

"Evan? Are you okay? What are you sorry for?" She asks, with a small panic forming in her voice. 

"Y-yeah mom, I'm okay." He says, and takes a deep breath. "I don’t think I can finish the day. I already missed one class."

"I'm glad you are okay." Heidi says in a whisper, as she wonders why he did what he did. 

"I was running late, and when I got to the door, I-I just couldn't o-open it." He says, sadness in his voice. "I was staring straight at the door, and I just... I couldn't mom. I'm s-sorry." 

Heidi can tell that Evan has tears forming by this point, so she just says the only thing she knows how to, "It's okay sweetie. Maybe tomorrow you'll be able to open it."

"Yeah, m-maybe..." Evan says, making sure he doesn't mention the scene with Connor. It'll just make her worry, and will most definitely make him worry more. 

"I love you, but I have to go now, okay?" Heidi explains. 

"Okay. Love you too mom. Bye." Evan says quietly as he hangs up the phone. What if he can't open it tomorrow either? What if he sees Connor again? But he knows that there's no way he will be able to talk about his conversation with Connor with his mom, so who? It's not like Evan has many friends...


	2. Jared Kleinman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared and Evan hang out... and order pizza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to try another chapter out today, please please please give me feedback! I'm still trying to figure out how to write the characters and what's going to happen.

Jared Kleinman. The insanely cool Jared Kleinman. That's who he'd talk to. They were friends, right?

"Wrong." Jared dismisses, as Evan approaches him at the end of school.

"W-wrong?" Evan inquires, "I haven't said anything yet!"

"Regardless, we aren't friends. We're family friends. That means we don't talk unless we have to." Jared clarifies. 

"P-please?" Evan asks, because no matter how many times Jared said they weren't friends, they had to be. Because if they weren't, then that would mean Evan didn't have any. And Evan didn't want to think about what that would mean.

"Oh my god Hansen." Jared replies, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Get in." He said as they approached the Kleinman Mobile, which was just a normal car that Jared wanted to sound cooler than it was.

Evan nods and sits in the passenger seat, but is wary of the vehicle. Jared isn't a bad driver per say, he's just a bit reckless.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" Jared wonders, climbing into the vehicle, waiting only a second before driving off.

"Connor." Evan replies quietly, beginning to wonder if there was even much to say on the issue. The kid pushed him, big deal. 

"Murphy? That kids a psycho." Jared says, his eyes wandering just about everywhere except the road.

"N-no he's not, he's just-" Evan took a deep breath. "He pushed me today."

"Oh boohoo he pushes everybody." Jared mimics, seeming to be uninterested by both Evan and safe driving.

"He looked lonely," Evan observes. "I don't think he's so bad after all."

"You've got to be kidding me." Jared replies, in a laugh-like tone. "You want to fuck him, don't you?"

"N-no!" Evan exclaims quickly, "I just meant that-"

"Relax, I was kidding." Jared says as Evan realizes he's only driving with one hand, using the other to tap on the console. "Mostly." 

"O-oh." Evan says, a touch of pink forming on his cheek, warily looking at the road.

"I'm not gonna crash, acorn." Jared persuades, noticing Evan's worry. "I'm so good, I could drive with my knees-"

"Please do not do that!" Evan exclaims, his eyes going wide, until he sees Jared laughing, signifying that it was only a joke.

"You still have your X-Box, right?" Jared asks out of nowhere.

"Y-yeah." Evan says cautiously, countless reasons why Jared would bother to ask about that flowing through his head.

"Cool. I'll be hanging at your place for a couple of hours then." Jared illustrates before explaining, "For the Car Insurance thing obviously."

"O-oh yeah, of course." Evan says, as they pull up into his driveway. Right away, Evan notices that his mom's car isn't there, which disappoints him, but doesn't quite shock him.

When they enter Evan's house, Evan is a little tense, because it's been some time since Jared's last visit. Evan then tries to say something to Jared, but who ignores him and sits on the couch, starting up the X-Box.

At first, Evan once again feels alone and disappointed, but after a few minutes, Jared calls from across the room, "This is a two-player game, get over here." And despite the bossiness of the statement, Evan smiles, and does just that.

The game is some car-racing game that Jared had brought in from his car. The rules and controls are fairly simple, but Evan finds that it is much more difficult when one of your arms is trapped in a cast. 

Jared doesn't seem to mind the fact that Evan is struggling, and instead boasts about how he's winning at the end of every round. Instead of finding it annoying, Evan is just happy that Jared is there in general, regardless of the reasons.

"You should order pizza," Jared suggests. "All of this winning is making me extremely hungry."

"Oh uh, sure." Evan says, and orders a large pepperoni and black olive pizza, remembering that it's Jared's favorite. It's a good thing Heidi has a "Food Money" jar for when she's working overtime, otherwise Evan would never be able to pay for it. 

The two boys played for a bit longer, before the sound of a doorbell echoed through the house. 

"I'll get it." Evan offers, making his way towards the door. When he opens the door, he is shocked to see who is standing on the other side. 

"That'll be $11.24." The boy at the door mumbles, before he looked up to see Evan. "You again..." He grumbles in a once again angry tone.

"Connor... I, uh, didn't know you worked here." Evan said to the Murphy boy, who was wearing a Domino's uniform, and was holding the large pizza.

"Considering that you don't know me, that's not really a shocker." Connor says, rolling his eyes. "Are you going to take your pizza or not?"

"O-oh. Right." Evan said, fumbling to hand Connor a 20. In turn he was given the pizza, and Evan then says, "You don't have to be rude you know."

"Nice? Are you suggesting I be nice to you?" Connor began to laugh, before saying, "Yeah. You clearly don't know me."

"It was just a suggestion." Evan replies quietly. "Oh, uh, you can keep the change."

"Great. Whatever." Connor says, and turns to leave.

"Well, uh, see you at school." Evan says.

"If I'm even there." Connor retorts, fully leaving sight, giving Evan the opportunity to close the door.

"Wow." Jared criticizes from across the room. "I've always pegged him as a Papa Johns guy, but Domino's? Never even crossed my mind as a possibility."

"I guess you listened to the whole thing." Evan says, "How bad was it?"

"Miserable to listen to." Jared says, and then adds, "Just bring me the pizza and don't worry about it. It's Connor Murphy; He's insane anyway. No point in trying to fix what can't be fixed."

"Y-you really shouldn't say that." Evan insists, but instead of listening, Jared shoves a piece of pizza into his mouth and turns back to the game. After that, Jared doesn't say much, so the two boys just sit, eat, and play that stupid car-racing game.


	3. How many types of milk are there?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared and Evan take a trip to the grocery store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally starting to figure out where I want this to go, and felt the urge to write my 6th total chapter that I've written in the past 24 hours. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Connor was right. Evan didn't see Connor at school the next day. Through every class, Evan checked to see if Connor ever made an appearance, but the results never changed. 

"Hey. Evan, right?" A girl's voice asked, cutting into Evan's thought process. Snapping back into reality, he noticed that the voice belonged to Zoe Murphy, who was standing right in front of him, the girl he has had a longtime crush on, but hasn't spoken too much. 

"Evan? I mean, yeah that's my name, I've had it ever since I was born. I mean-" Evan says, in his mumbling-panicky voice. "S-sorry."

With that, Zoe began to laugh, but not in a rude way. "Anyway, Evan, I saw my brother push you in the hallway yesterday. I was just wondering if you were okay. Did he hurt you?"

It turns out Evan had been right this entire time. Zoe was a selfless angel. Or maybe his brain was exaggerating her kindness. "Oh, y-yeah I'm fine. I almost forgot about that." He replies, forcing a smile. 

"Okay, great!" Zoe says, with a smile of her own. "If he pushes you again, just tell me and I'll get him in trouble, okay?" And as soon as she appeared, she starts to walk away.

"Ya like jazz?" Evan asks quietly as she leaves, immediately wishing he could shove the words right back into his mouth. 

"What?" She asks, stopping as Evan gives a silent praise that she didn't hear what he had said. 

"I mean, I've seen you practice in jazz band before, you're really good. I love jazz band. Who wouldn't love jazz band?" Evan rambles, his smile returning as he was trying to cover up all his mistakes, but obviously failing miserably. 

"Oh, thank you!" She replies, not showing any sign that she thinks Evan’s words are extremely weird, which is an accomplishment for him. "Well, see you later maybe."

At that, Evan nods. "Yeah. See you." As Zoe begins to actually walk away, most likely out the doors, since the school day had just come to an end, and that was a very normal thing to do. 

And so Evan left the building too, heading straight towards the Kleinman Mobile. Last night, Jared's mom had somehow convinced Jared to take Evan home from school almost every day, at least until his arm healed. 

"Dude. You're later than usual." Jared points out from the driver's seat as Evan climbs in the car, almost hitting his head on the way in like he almost always does. 

"Zoe talked to me." Evan says, because Jared is the one person who has heard every detail about his lifetime crush on the girl. 

"Did you ask her out?" Jared asks, knowing the answer already. 

"Obviously not," Evan clarifies. "She was apologizing for Connor pushing me yesterday."

"Told you Connor is a mess. He even has his sister going around apologizing for him." Jared says, backing the car out of the parking spot. 

"Maybe he only is one because everyone thinks he is." Evan then says defensively. "Nobody really knows Connor."

"Well, everyone is right." Jared says, driving out of the school's parking lot. "And Zoe probably knows him well. Speaking of, how much did you embarrass yourself?"

"I may have mentioned my love for jazz band." Evan says quietly, not wanting to admit his worst mistake of the day. 

"You have got to be kidding me." Jared says, laughing while shaking his head in amusement. "You pulled a Bee Movie, didn't you?" 

Evan doesn't reply, other than with a nod as he lightly bangs his head against the dashboard. "I can't believe I did that." 

"Did you at least make her laugh?" Jared asks, returning to his one-handed driving that puts Evan on edge. Because what if they crash? Then Heidi will get concerned, and maybe Jared won't be allowed to drive him again, and then he might have to take the bus, and nobody likes the bus. It's way too loud, and it sometimes smells, and then he would get home later because of all the stops it would have to make, and then he wouldn't have as much free time, which would make him start on his homework later, and maybe not finish it. And that would cause him to get bad grades, causing him to not get a scholarship to college which would in turn cause him not to go at all and then he wouldn't get a job and then Heidi would be disappointed in him. 

"Yeah, she laughed." Evan says, embarrassed. "But I'm afraid it was at me rather than with me."

Jared takes a moment to think, before saying, "At least that's a start..." And Evan can't quite understand why Jared is being supportive with this. Jared is never supportive of him doing anything. Except maybe doing a project by himself and slapping Jareds name on it.

"I'll hang out at your house again." Jared says after Evan doesn't answer. "Y'know, car insurance." 

Hearing that last sentence makes Evans heart sink because all Evan wants is for Jared to just leave it at the first sentence. That something about car insurance isn't the reason. He's been trying and trying to become Jared's friend, but he can't even mention the possibility of the two of them being friends without Jared cutting in and saying 'Family Friends' as a reminder that that's all they'll ever be. But Evan has decided that he won't give up. 

"Yeah, okay." Evan agrees, not really having much of a choice anyway. 

"Cool. Maybe I'll even let you dazzle me with some of your forest expertise." Jared jokes, since he has been making jokes of that sort since he found out that Evan fell out of a tree. 

"Oh. Very funny." Evan says quietly, thinking about what it would be like if Jared had known the truth about his incident. And how much worse that would make things. 

When they arrive at the Hansen house, the two boys enter without really speaking. On the fridge, Evan finds a note from Heidi, saying that they needed milk. Evan reads it and sighs, glancing over at Jared, who already seemed to be half-asleep on the couch. 

"Hey Jared." Evan calls. "Would you mind taking me to the grocery store?"

Jared groans at the sound of Evan's voice, but sits up, fixing his hair and glasses. Or at least attempts to. "Yeah, yeah whatever. I have to get something from there anyway."

"Cool. Thanks." Evan says, grabbing some money from the 'Food Money' jar. 

On the way there, they don't talk much, and Jared was driving mostly normal, which Evan was thankful for. 

When they arrived, the pair went their separate ways; Jared to whatever remote corner he needed something from, and Evan to the milk aisle. He could do this, right? It's only milk. There can't be that many to choose from, right? Except there was. 2%, Skim, Almond, Chocolate, Flavored Almond, and what seemed like an endless amount of other options. He pulled the note from his pocket to see if his mom had specified what kind to get, but to his dismay, it still only said milk. What if he chose the wrong milk and Heidi got upset? What if he was taking too long and Jared left without him?

Taking a deep breath, Evan walked further into the aisle, gazing at all of his options. That lead him to wonder why a big jug of strawberry milk wasn't an option. They only had smaller ones of strawberry. Was strawberry milk not good enough? Evan had always liked strawberry milkshakes, and assumed that he would like strawberry milk as well, so why wouldn't that be an option? Were they just out, or was there some limit to how much strawberry milk you could buy?

Evan glanced over to see an old lady glaring at him, most likely because he was in the way of her cart and was taking too long to pick out something as simple as milk. He quickly moved out of the way, realizing that his hands were sweaty, and wiped them on his pants. Taking a deep breath, he started to focus. Milk. Simple. Finally, he decided to take the one with the blue label, because the color blue hadn't done him any wrong yet. 

Looking down so he could escape the aisle as fast as possible, but bumped into someone. "S-sorry." He said, before looking up to see who it was. Of course, it had been Connor Murphy, who he could not seem to get away from. Seeing Connor again made him both more nervous and slightly pleased. Especially because standing right beside him was the one and only Zoe Murphy. Although, Zoe was a pretty common name and so was the last name Murphy, which got Evan to think that maybe she wasn't the only one named that. 

"Of course it had to be you." Connor grumbles, not bothering to return or accept the apology. Evan noted that he was carrying a package of pepper jack cheese, which may not have been important, but to Evan it was noteworthy. 

"What he means is sorry." Zoe says, smiling at Evan, and then glaring at Connor. "He's not very good at saying that."

"O-oh, it was my fault anyway, I wasn't watching where I was going and-" Evan began to ramble, before someone cut off his speech. 

"This must be good." Jared says, viewing the situation, now standing right next to Evan, somehow carrying 3 whole pineapples. 

"Oh great, you're here too." Connor says, as if that makes everything in life worse. Evan still didn't understand why Jared and Connor had some sort of pledge against each other. Why couldn't they just accept that both of them were somewhat decent people and move on?

"Connor." Zoe says while crossing her arms, in a voice that hints at her patience being lost. "How many times do I have to tell you to be nice? Or at least nicer?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you that you're not my mom?" Connor retorts as Zoe kicks him once in the shin. 

"I'd hate to interrupt this interesting sibling rivalry, but we've got to go." Jared says, managing to check his watch even with the three pineapples in his arms.

"Sorry you had to see that." Zoe says to the both of them, uncrossing her arms. "See you at school I guess."

With that, Evan nods as the Murphy's move out of the way, Zoe and Connor still arguing. 

"Of course you and your Murphy sibling obsession choose the exact time they happen to be here to get milk." Jared analyzes in amusement, and the two pay for their groceries just before heading back to the oh-so-wondrous Kleinman Mobile. 

Soon after Jared took Evan home, he left for his own, leaving Evan alone to think about the whole trip, starting with the confusing milk and ending with Jared practically juggling three pineapples without getting a cart or anything. Besides, who even needs three? One pineapple is satisfactory. Two is pushing the limits, but reasonable, and three? That seemed to be overkill. 


	4. Two Pretenders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan skips school with Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a couple of announcements. 
> 
> 1\. Last night I revised the previous chapter of this story, slightly altering some of the sentences. 
> 
> 2\. I will do that to my other story some time this week. 
> 
> 3\. With finals in school, I probably won't post all that often, but I can try.

"Connor! Where are you going?" Evans voice rings through the air as he shouts the question at an angry boy. He isn't leaving, right?

"I'm leaving." Connor replies. Okay so maybe that's exactly what he's doing. 

"You can't do that." Evan says, "Right?" 

"Well, I showed up, and now I don't want to be here anymore, so I'm leaving." Connor shrugs. "What's it to you?"

"Imeaniknowtechnicallyyoucanleave,butthatsabaddesicionright?" Evan says, jumbling all of his words together, as if they were just one big word. 

"Speak up." Connor vilifies, annoyed. "Nobody can hear you or understand you for that matter. Besides, why are you so obsessed with what I'm doing?"

"S-sorry. And I'm not obsessed." Evan protests. "You just seem sad so-"

"Oh my god. I'm your charity case." Connor realizes, rolling his eyes in bewilderment. "Fine. Leave with me then."

"Wait? But didn't you just hear me say that that's a very very bad idea?" Evan says, taking a step back. 

"It's the same as sitting in the hallway and skipping class.” Connor argues, ¨Just more fun.¨

"Okay, I guess." Evan begins nervously. "But what if we get caught and where would we even go andwhatifwegotojailicantgotojail."

That brought Connor to stare at Evan with a chuckle forming in his throat, amusement in his voice. "Are you going or what?" Connor challenges, beginning to walk away. 

"F-fine!" Evan says, catching up to Connor. What could go wrong? A lot of things. They could get in trouble for leaving. A school shooter could show up just as they were leaving the building, making them the first targets. Connor could just be kidnapping Evan to simply kill him. Evan could somehow break his other arm. Regardless, Evan knew something not only could, but was definitely going to go wrong. 

By the time Connor stopped walking, they had reached the parking lot, but more specifically to a van with tinted windows. By the sight of it, the second to last option was without doubt going to happen. Why else would you have tinted windows if not for kidnapping and killing? 

"Relax. Get in." Connor says, breaking Evan's thought process. The amusement has left his voice, and is back to it's usual grumpiness. 

"Y-yeah okay sorry." Evan says, and climbs into the vehicle, not without hitting his head on the car first. 

"How'd you break your arm anyway?" Connor asks, watching as Evan even messes up getting into a car. 

"Oh, well, it's a funny story actually." Evan says, "I fell out of a tree." 

"That might as well be the saddest fucking thing I've ever heard." Connor says, staring at Evan. "How come nobody has signed your cast?"

"Well, you see, nobody has offered?" Evan says, looking down, embarrassed. 

"Do you have a sharpie?" Connor asks, still not beginning to drive. 

"O-oh y-yeah it's uh right here." Evan says, fumbling to pull it out of his pocket. Shakily, he hands it to Connor, who uncaps it and writes in the biggest letters possible 'CONNOR'

Connor doesn't apologize for the big letters, but instead says in an outrageous tone, ¨Now we both can pretend we have friends.¨ And finally begins to drive. It takes a few minutes, but it hits Evan that he has no clue where Connor is going to take him. 

"Where are we going?" Evan wonders, looking out to see a winding country road. 

"Want to grab a scoop at A La Mode?" Connor suggests, not seeming to have an actual plan.

"Oh. Y-yeah A La Mode sounds good." Truth be told, Evan hadn't actually heard of the place before, but he was hoping it was a nice place with a 0% chance of death. 

"It's an ice cream shop." Connor clarifies. "My parents used to take me there on the way to some place a long time ago."

"Oh. B-but I don't have any-" Evan begins, but gets cut off by Connor.

¨Don't.¨ Connor warns, silencing Evan. 

¨What?¨ Evan asks, confused. He was just going to say that he hadn't brought any money with him.

¨Don't make me have to offer you money so I seem like a decent person.¨ Connor elaborates, in a serious tone. ¨Just pretend like it's free, and don't you dare thank me.¨

¨But why don't you want to seem like a decent person?¨ Evan asks, confused.

¨Because i'm not one and I don't plan on ever being one.¨ Connor states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

¨But-¨ Evan tries to say, and is cut off by Connor once again.

¨Evan Hansen, I will pull this car over and leave you stranded if you don't drop it.¨ Connor threatens, using his first and last name which comes as a shock to Evan, since he usually only calls him Hansen. 

Instead of replying, Evan nods, intimidated by both the yelling and the threat. He may have dropped the talking after that, but the thought did not drop from his brain. Why doesn't Connor want that? To be liked by others? Or maybe that's not what he was saying he didn't want. Maybe Connor was just saying that he didn't want to pretend to be something he wasn't. 

¨Does drive-thru suffice?¨ Connor asks, and then changes his mind. ¨Nevermind, we're doing that anyway. Does vanilla sound good? Great.¨ Connor decides, not really waiting to see what Evan wants.

It's a good thing Evan does like vanilla ice cream. Otherwise, it would have been a waste. After getting their order of two vanilla ice cream cones, Connor pulls over so he can eat his. Evan decides to note how different that was than with Jared. Jared would have continued driving, with one hand at most, eating the ice cream and singing to some Spice Girls song. That may have been speaking from a previous experience. Speaking of Jared though, Evan remembers to text him that he won't be needing a ride today.

¨Off to our next destination.¨ Connor declares after finishing his ice cream. ¨Why am I doing this again?¨

¨To get me off your back?¨ Evan suggests, not knowing the answer himself.

¨That sounds about right.¨ Connor agrees, beginning to drive. 

¨So what is this next destination anyway?¨ Evan wonders.

¨Its really not much of anything.¨ Connor says, almost looking… embarrassed? No, its Connor we're talking about. ¨Just a field with a bunch of trees.¨

¨I like trees.” Evan blatantly states. 

¨That is so fucking weird.¨ Connor says, shaking his head, stopping the car. And then we're there. It is exactly as Connor suggested. An open field, framed with trees. We pick a spot, and sit by an old tree stump. 

"What do you keep in the bag?" Evan asks, pointing to the brown bag that is always across his shoulder. 

Connor bites his lip as if he were debating on telling the truth or a lie. In the end, Connor decided on the truth. "Sketch books."

"You draw?" Evan asks, impressed. 

"I knew it was a bad idea to answer-" Connor begins, translating the question to a negative comment. 

"No, really. I think it's cool-" Evan reassures. "Can I maybe see one?"

"Wait." Connor says, confused. "You want to see one of my sketches?"

"Yeah, of course." Evan replies. 

"Fine." Connor guesses. It can only hurt a lot with a bad reaction. Regardless, he opens up the mysterious bag and pulls out a sketchbook. Flipping through the pages, he stops when he reaches one he's proud of. 

"Woah." Evan says, staring at it. It's a drawing that must've been done here, because the scenery looked exactly the same, the main focus being a very detailed tree. "That's...amazing."

"It's literally just a tree." Connor mumbles, trying not to accept the compliment. Never fear, Evan is here to make sure Connor does take a compliment no matter how long it takes. 

"No, this is a masterpiece." Evan argues, pointing out the little details in it that seem to pull it all together. "Your parents must be proud."

"I've never showed anyone." Connor states, which further poses the question Why'd you show Evan? 

"You haven't?" Evan asks, confused. "But this is great-"

"I can scribble down something that resembles a tree. Big deal. It's not like I'm producing oxygen or anything that actually matters." Connor says harshly. Okay so maybe he wasn't too into the compliments as of the moment. 

To that, Evan stares at Connor. Even with all the progress he thought they made, it was back to square one. 

"I didn't mean to yell." Connor whispers, realizing his mistake. Okay so maybe it wasn't back to square one. More like square 2.5. 

"It's okay." Evan says quietly, looking at the ground, closing the sketchbook and returning it to its rightful owner. 

"I think it matters." Evan says as a continuation of his previous statement, watching Connor put the sketchbook away. 

And maybe Connor doesn't say anything back, but verbal replies aren't the only types of replies. Connor just gives Evan a look. A look of gratitude perhaps. Or maybe that was giving Connor too much benefit of the doubt. 

"I want to climb a tree." Connor says out of nowhere, breaking the forming silence. Evan immediately looks down at his arm, but all he's sees is 'CONNOR' so he is worryingly nods, seeing it as a sign even though the only sign it was was a signed cast. 

"Y-yeah, okay." Evan whispers. And all he can wonder is why in the world he's agreeing to this. Climbing a tree with a broken arm isn't exactly a top ten idea. 

And they just walk. Until they reach a tree, and start climbing. Evan thought he would hesitate, but the whole thing just seems natural. Even with only one good arm. One foot after the other. One branch and then to another. He glances at Connor, and they keep climbing higher and higher. Until the entire sun seems to shine on their face. 

Somewhere along the way though, he must've misstepped or something, and he suddenly feels a branch give way. He feels the fear of falling, but never hits the ground, because a hand reaches out and grabs his. He looks up. Connor caught him. He caught him. And everything was... Okay. And the two boys were frozen in time, breathing heavily looking straight at one another. Connor's hand being the only thing keeping Evan from falling. And they stayed that way for what seemed to be for forever. Two pretenders. On their perfect day. 

But that forever came to an end as Connor steadied Evan on a good branch, and they both climbed down, this time Connor watching Evan cautiously, Evan feeling a pounding in his chest the entire way down. 

Evan doesn't know what Connor must've seen just by looking at him, but something has changed. When Evan thanks Connor for catching him, the Murphy boy doesn't reject his gratitude like before. He nods. And that may not be much to most people, but to Evan that was important. 

They don't do much after that. They mostly just walk. Occasionally they would talk, but the conversations always came to a quick end, followed by some sort of silence. Eventually, they did reach the car, but Connor didn’t start driving. 

"Can you tell me something?" He asks, his words struggling to be clear, looking at the cast as they became clearer. "Did you fall before? Or did you let go?"

Evan doesn't know what to say. So he doesn't say anything at all. He just stares out the front of the car. 

"Because when you fell today, I saw your eyes, and they looked scared like you've never fallen before." Connor's voice was strong now, almost forcing the topic on Evan. 

So Evan feels like he has no choice but to nod. And that's what he does. 

"Then maybe we're more alike then I thought." Connor mumbles to himself, but Evan hears it. Just barely. 

And the whole way home they don't talk. Except for Connor getting Evan's address that is. That winding country road seemed to provide a mutual silence for the boys. 

When Evan does get home though, and he walks inside, Heidi is there, looking like she had been slightly panicked. 

"Evan!" She exclaims, immediately walking over and hugging him. "I've been worried sick."

"S-sorry. I am s-so sorry mom." Evan says nervously as realization hits that he never told her he was missing class today. He had remembered to tell Jared, but not his own mother. 

"Oh who am I kidding." She says with a smile, wiping away a tear. "I'm just glad you're okay. Text me next time, alright? The office called to tell me you weren't there, and you hadn't texted me-"

Evan nods, and that's the end of it. She doesn't bring it up again, and Evan never gets in trouble for it. So he heads up to his room, confused, wondering what brought him to this moment in life. He skipped not only class, but school as a whole. He had never done that before. And with Connor Murphy of all people, who isn't near as bad as everyone says. But he told Connor his biggest secret of all? That was purely insane. And who knew Connor drew? And let's not forget the fact that Connor caught him. Or that Evan got away with all of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Also thank you to those of you who have commented!


	5. Evan Keeps Spacing Out In Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just your average day in the life of Evan Hansen chapter. Also Alana is there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So sorry that I haven't posted anything recently. I'm more busy than I thought with school. Never fear, next week is my last week so I'll get a lot better with that. 
> 
> ¡¡Also, important message!!
> 
> With a lot of thought, I have decided to write this story in Connors point of view (as a separately posted thing) just because I feel like it's always nice to get multiple sides of the story, and I feel like it'll add a lot of explanation for the events that occur in this story. I'm not totally sure on what I'll name it yet, but just a heads up...

When Evan went to school the next day, Evan could tell that something between Connor and him was different. For example, the past few days Evan had been waving at Connor in the hallway whenever they passed by, and Connor would angrily walk past, ignoring him. But today when Evan waved, Connor looked at him and nodded. Maybe it wasn't a big gesture or anything, but to Evan it had meant a lot. Like Evan was doing something right. 

“Evan? Are you alright?” A voice called, as Evan realized he had spaced out in the middle of class. Again. He had been doing so in almost every class that day. 

It was the legendary Alana Beck, the teacher's pet who could talk a mile a minute. As a reply to her question, Evan nodded and started to say, “Yea-”

“Great! Because one time there was a good student who spaced out in class, and the teachers say that that was the beginning of a downward spiral for her.” Alana began as if she didn't actually care what Evan was saying, and Evan wondered how she could fit so much oxygen in her lungs to talk that fast without a breath. “Because the next day, she didn't turn in any of her homework and then she started getting really bad grades and dropped out.” 

“Oh-” Evan begins to say once again, but Alana has other plans for the conversation. 

“How did you break your arm? Is that the beginning of your downward spiral? Is that why you spaced out?” 

“I, uh, fell out of a tree.” Evan says, not being cut off for the first time. Hearing Alana ask that, he thought of Connor Murphy’s question from the day before, making his stomach hurt. He let go.

“You fell? Was there anyone around? How did you fall? Why did you climb a tree if it was so dangerous? Youth these days need to learn how to be more careful. Safety is very important, yet everyone always under appreciates it.” Alana rambles, but then the bell rings. “Well, I have to go. I can't be late for my next class. It was nice to talk to you.” 

With that, she dashed out the door, leaving Evan both uncomfortable and confused, as he always felt when Alana spoke to him. She never really gave chances for a reply, and brought up the most peculiar things during conversations, often completely altering the topic. But he didn't have enough time to sit and think about it, because Evan noticed that the classroom was filling up, so he grabbed his bag and headed off to his next class. 

\---

“Really? You replaced me with Connor Murphy?” Jared says immediately as Evan reaches the Kleinman Mobile. 

“What do you mean?” Evan asks. I mean how could he replace his only family friend?

“Let me guess. The two of you skipped class for a make out session.” Jared implies, stepping into the vehicle. 

“N-no!” Evan insists, his cheeks newly stinging with red as he also enters the car. 

“You take things too seriously.” Jared enlightens, as if he hadn't told Evan that before, which he has, on multiple occasions. 

Desperate to change the all-too-familiar topic, Evan wonders. “What did you need all of those pineapples for anyway?”

With that, he vaguely states. “A man does not reveal his secrets.” Which just makes Evan even more confused and curious regarding the matter. After that, the two sit in silence, until they reach the Hansen household. When Evan exits the car, Jared doesn't drive off right away, which is peculiar. By the time Evan reaches his door, Jared's car is still sitting in the driveway. Not thinking much of it, Evan just waves and enters his house. 

When he does so, he reaches the all-too-familiar note on the fridge, stating that they ran out of frozen pizzas and his other favorites, so Evan would have to order pizza, since Heidi was running late. Again. 

Sighing, he grabbed a phone and dialed the number for Papa Johns. Shakily, he ordered a large pizza, so he would have leftovers the next day. Evan really dreaded phone calls. Are you supposed to start with a greeting whenever you call a business? Do you speak first or do you let them? What if you talk at the same time as the other person? What if they can't hear you? What if you're too loud? But Evan always knew that he shouldn't focus on his worries, and just do the task at hand. 

Whenever he finished ordering the pizza, he paced around the house. Sure, he could sit on the couch and watch TV like a normal person, or do something productive, but for Evan, it was his way of thinking so, in a way, that was productivity. 

Eventually though, the doorbell did ring, and the wait was over. So Evan walked to the door, and opened it. 

“Wait what?” Evan asks, confused. He did not expect Connor Murphy, who worked at Dominos, to be standing at his front door in a Papa John's Uniform with pizza in his hands. 

“I guess your friend wasn't wrong after all, Papa John's does suit me.” Connor states, with what Evan can only think of as contentment, which might I add is very likely close to the most positive expression he has. 

“W-wait, you had already left at that point-” Evan recalls, becoming even more confused. 

“Doors aren't all that soundproof.” Connor blandly states, and then adds. “By the way, that'll be $11.26 Hansen.”

“Oh. Right. Pizza.” Evan says, probably sounding very awkward while doing so, noticing that Dominos was 2 cents cheaper. He fishes out the money he took from the “Food Money Jar” and hands Connor a $20, taking the pizza while he's at it. 

When the pizza leaves his hands, Connor takes the money, and puts his hands in his pockets, and just stands on the porch as if he wants to say something, but he never does. 

“It's funny how you have two jobs at pizza places, and happened to be my deliverer the past two times I've ordered.” Evan supplies. “I mean what a coincidence.”

“Yeah. A total coincidence.” Connor states in a monotone voice, looking Evan straight in the eye and turns to leave, them already having had the conversation on whether Evan wanted the change or not. As he does so though, he keeps looking back at Evan for some reason. At first, that made Evan uncomfortable, but then he learns to appreciate it. But sure enough, the driveway is only so long, so Connor disappears around a corner in no time. 

With that, Evan is left alone to eat the pizza in his small house and to think. To think about the mysterious boy who had appeared twice on his doorstep. Sure, because he ordered pizza, but is it really likely that the kid works at two different pizza places and delivered both times to Evan as merely a coincidence? He wasn't so sure. So if it wasn't a coincidence, then why? With that thought, Evan could unexplainably feel a pang in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Thanks for giving this a chance. I do, however, apologize for the lack of length in this chapter, finals have sucked me of practically all my inspiration.


End file.
